“One day, I was taken to one side and told, ‘you may or may not know that we are part of CIA, but don’t go telling people’. I was absolutely thrilled, and was not too much of a surprise because the application process was enormous — it took 10 months. They went through my character and background with a fine tooth comb, asking if I had ever visited communist countries and, if I had, did I form any relationships while I was there,” Berg said.
The MOSSAD connection
The MintPress News investigation revealed that Berg has developed deep professional relationship with Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, while he was working on his book ‘Red Sea Spies: The True Story of Mossad’s Fake Diving Resort,’ which tells the story of the agency’s operation to clandestinely smuggle Ethiopian Jews into Israel.
Introducing his book, Berg said that he wrote it “in collaboration” with Mossad commander Dani Limor, whom he relied on extensively, as he knew “next to nothing” about the story and its background before writing it.
Limor opened numerous doors and was able to secure “over 100 hours of interviews” with Israeli military and intelligence officials, including with the head of Mossad.
“Limor and Berg became extremely close friends. In 2020, he posted a picture of himself with his arm around the ex-Mossad commander. The first page of “Red Sea Spies” is simply a glowing recommendation from Efraim Halevy, former director of Mossad, a group Berg describes as “the world’s greatest intelligence service,” the MintPress News report said.
The report also noted that Berg had expressed his delight that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown interest in his book and went on to frame a letter Netanyahu sent him in appreciation and placed it in his office next to pictures of him meeting a Mossad commander and Mark Regev, the former spokesperson for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Systematic Israeli propaganda
According to MintPress News, Raffi Berg, since the beginning of his BBC tenure, has explicitly shown his adherence to Israel and its army.
The report noted that he got promoted as BBC’s Middle East head shortly after he instructed his colleagues at the newsroom to word their stories in a way that does not blame or “put undue emphasis” on Israel, during its deadly ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in 2012.
During Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military was found to have indiscriminately targeted and killed civilians, used Palestinians as human shields, and used banned chemical weapons, such as white phosphorous, on civilian areas.
Leaked emails from Berg revealed that “he encouraged journalists to present the attack as an operation “aimed at ending rocket fire from Gaza,” thereby framing Hamas as the aggressor,” MintPress News noted.
During Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, in his new role as the editorial head, Berg allegedly helped turn the network into “systematic Israeli propaganda,” according to one journalist quoted by the Drop Site investigation.
“Almost every correspondent you know has an issue with him… He has been named in multiple meetings, but [management] just ignore it,” said another journalist.
According to the Drop Site investigation, Berg is alleged to have made extensive pre-publication edits to others’ stories, changing the framing of news events to shield Israel from blame.
One example cited by the report is the BBC coverage related to the death of Muhammed Bhar, a Palestinian man with Downs Syndrome, who was killed by the Israeli army by setting attack dogs on him. An injured Bhar was left alone to bleed to death as the army denied him medical aid.
“Under Berg’s supervision, the original headline ran: “The Lonely Death of Gaza Man with Down’s Syndrome.” Only after a gigantic worldwide outcry did the BBC change its framing to note anything about how Bhar met his end,” the report noted.
The report also mentioned that despite internal complaints against Berg, flagging his bias and unprofessional approach, the BBC has “offered unequivocal support for him and his work.”
The Western media’s coverage of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has come under scrutiny for its alleged “whitewashing” and “downplaying” of Israel’s war crimes. It has also been criticised for furthering several fake narratives pushed by Israel.
According to an Al Jazeera investigation in October last year, CNN aired a report that furthered false claims regarding Hamas’s presence inside the al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital in Gaza, which was bombed by Israel.
CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, who was one of the few international journalists to be allowed inside Gaza by the Israeli army, was shown a document on the wall of the hospital, written in Arabic, which IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed was proof of Hamas using the facility to hide Israeli captives.
“It wasn’t a Hamas roster at all… It was a calendar, and written in Arabic were the days of the week. But the report that came out from Nic Robertson just swallowed up Israel’s claim,” a journalist at the CNN told Al Jazeera.
He added that the footage was aired even after a Palestinian producer alerted her colleagues, including Robertson.